Railroad-gate.



Patented nee. .24; |901. w. H. LAUGHLIN.

RAILROAD GATE.

(Application led Apr. 16, 1901.) (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

ncmlls Perm m. Fumo'uwo.. wAsmNaT. o. t;

No. 689,498. mvfen'fd nec. 24, 19m. w. H. LAUGHLm.

RAILROAD GATE.

lication led Apr. 16, 1901 eeeeeeeeeeeeeee 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

WALTER I-I. LAUGHLIN, or eAvERs, oHIo.

RAI LROAD-GATE.

SECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,498, dated December 24, 1901.

Application filed April 16, 1901.

T0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. LAUGHLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gavers, in the county of Columbiana and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Railroad-Gate, of which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to gates, and more particularly to that class of gates employed at railway-crossings.

The object of the invention is to provide a simply-constructed, positively operative, and at once thoroughly reliable gate to be used more particularlyat street-crossin gs, althou gli it may be used in other positions where its employment will be advantageous, the device being, in effect, a combined gate and signal, as in operation a ag, target, lantern, or other visual signal ,is projected to view at the same time the gate is'dropped across the road or track.

The parts of the device are all constructed and assembled with a view to certainty of operation and reduction to a minimum of danger of derangement in use, so that correct performance of the apparatus under all conditions of use will be -practically certain.

Further and more specific points of advantage and details of construction will be hereinafter more specifically pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, I have illustrated a form of embodiment of my invention adapted for performing the functions designed.

Figure 1 is a view in perspective exhibiting a section of track and the railway-gate in op` erative relation thereto. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation taken from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation. Fig. 4 is a view in longitudinal section taken through the gate-arm. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the gate-arm, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a section of track, the same to be of any desired length in use-say two or three hundred feet. On the inner side of each of the rails and at the opposite ends of the section is secured an inward-curved spring 2 2, respectively, the

Serial No. 56,160. (No model.)

same being held in position with the web of the'rails bybolts or the like.l

Mounted adjacent to that end of the track contiguous to the roadway or grade-'crossing to be protected is the gate 3, supported in an operative position by standards 4, one of which, as shown, is taller than the other. These standards are held in vertical` position in any suitable manner, as by being mortised into or bolted onto a bed-timber 5, which for the object of stability may be sunk and extend beneath both rails. The gate 3 is a hollow rectangular structure, preferably of metal, and comprises a swinging arm 6, pivotally mounted between the standards 4 and an arm 7, mounted for telescopic movement within the arm 6, the outer end of the arm 7 carrying the signal to be displayed, which may be, as before stated, a target, flag, or lantern. The arm 6, as herein shown, is tubular and preferably rectangular in crosssection and provided on each side with a slot S and in its bottom with a slot 9, the slots 8 to be engaged by pins 10, projecting laterally from the arm 7, and the slot 9 to be engaged by the signal when the same is a flag, as shown in Fig. 2. The rear portion of the arm 6 is provided with a series of transverse openings ll-in this instance three in numberthrough one of which passes a bolt 12 to hold the gate for pivotal movement between the standards. The object in providing a series of openings 11 is to permit the gate to be adjusted to cause its long or outer end to be heavier or lighter, asv the case may be, thereby to effect proper coaction between it and its actuating-spring.

edges of which are bent outward to form 'flanges 13 to bear upon'l the guides 14 on each side of the slot 9. While not shown herein, it will be obvious that to render the device more responsive in action the iianges 13 may be provided with rollers to bear upon the guides 14 of the arm 6. Connecting with the rear portion of the arm 7 is a rope or chain 15, which passes over a pulley or roller lrod 16, carried by the outer end of the arm 6 and has its free end attached to the taller of the standards 4, the function of `this rope or chain 15 being to cause automatic projection of the arm ICO 7 when the gate drops, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 3. Connecting with the shorter portion of the arm 6 is one end of a Wire rope or chain'17, which passes around a pulley or sheave 18, mounted on a bolt or shaft li), passing through the standards, the other end of this'wire rope or chain passing through an openingr 2O in the web of the rail and being secured to the free or unattached end of the spring 2, as shown in Fig. (5, the tension of the wire rope 17, under the action of the spring to which it is connected, being sufficient to cause automatic return of the gate to a vertical or approximately vertical position when the gate has been released after the passage of the train.

Secured to the under side of the arm 6 is a plate or projection 2l, the same to engage when the gate is dropped with a catch 22, carried by a spring-rod 23, rigidly held inverticalposition on one of the standards and in line with the plate or projection 2l. To the upper portion of the rod 23 isfconnected one end of a wire rope or chain 2l, thc other end being passed through an opening 25 in one of the rails and secured to the other spring 2, the wire rope or chain 2-l being normally slack, while the wire rope or chain 17 is at all times under tension. l

While not shown herein, it is to be understood that the openings in the rails through which the wire ropes 17 and 24 pass may be provided with pulleys or sheaves by which to "reduce friction between the parts.

The operation of the device is as follows: The wheels ot' the engine or car truck (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l) come in con.- tact with the spring 2, thereby forcing it in against the side of the track and slackening the Wire rope or chain 17, thereby permitting,r the gate to drop and in the manner described causing the projection of the arm 7 and with it the exhibition of the signal. When the arm reaches a horizontal position, the catch on the spring-rod 23 engages with the plate or projection 2l on the arm 6 and holds the gate down until the wheels of the engine or car come in contact with the spring 2n at the exit end of the section, which spring through the mechanism described retracts the spring-rod 23 and releases the gate, which immediately, through the mechanism described, resumes its normal position.

An important result obtained by constructing the gate in the manner described-that is to say, with a telescopic section-is that the employment of very long gates where used at the street-crossings in cities is obviated, thereby preventing damage to the gate caused by the wind-pressure, as frequently happens.

A salient advantage accruing from adding my track devices to' the gate of this invention is that it makes the gate entirely automatic in action, and therefore renders entirely unnecessary the employment of an attendant to operate it. Further, it will be absolutely certain to operatein ample timeto give waruing to vehicles or pedestrians of an approaching train. As isl well known, accidents frequently happen from the carelessness or neglect of a gate attendant to drop the gate in sufficient time to Warn persons of the approach of a train; but with this device the gate will always be dropped in time to obviate any possibility of accident. Generally `the gate when in its horizontal position Will be elevated about nine feet above the roadbed, so that should a person driving a'buggy or ordinary carriage be caught on the track when theI gate is down there will be room to pass under the same. It will be obvious, however, that if preferred the gate may be lmade to swing down close to the track, asin the ordinary railway-gates now generally employed at road-crossings.

lt is to be understood that when a train backs over the track-section containingv the mechanism described there will be no interference between the springs and the car- Wheel flange, each ofthe springs2 and 2a being cut away, as shown at 2b', to permit pasn sage between the rail and the spring of the wheel-flange, the latter forcing the springs Ato one side, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 6.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim isl. In a railway-gate@ slotted tubular gate member, -a slidable member telescoped therein, and a signal. carried by the slidablemember, the slot of the tubular member beinglocated to accommodate the signal when the slidable arm is moved inwardly.

2. In a railway-gate, a;vertically-tiltingtubular gate-member havingalongitudinal.slot formed in the outerfreeend thereofandy also in that part which is the bottom Qf'the member when thel gate isv closed, a, telescopic member, and a signal projected at onepside of the latter member and locatedin line with the bifurcationsoias to be received therein when the gate is opened.

3. In a railway-gate, the combination with a. support, of a vertically-tiltinggate-pivotally mounted upon the support, and havingY an outer terminal` loosely-slidable; extension, a

.flexible connection between the? support, and

the rear portion of the extensiomanda guide carried by the tilting gate portion and located outwardly beyond the point ofv engagementbetween the liexible connectionand the extensiomsaid iexible eXtensionbeingpassed loosely through the guide, whereby theextension is shot outwardly bythe dropping of the gate.

4. A railway-gate comprising telesccped members, one of whichV is. slotted', and:` the other is provided; with a lateral projection slidably mounted in the slotted portion ofthe first-mentioned member,the opposite ends-of the slot-formingfstopsforengagement by the proj eetion and to limittlie endWise-movement of the movable member.

ICO

IIO

5. In a railway-gate, the combination with a suitable standard, of a two-membered gatearm, one member of which is pivotally connected with the standard and is provided with alined side slots, the other member being movable within the pivoted member, and having laterally-extending projections engaging the slots.

6. In a railway-gate, a gate-arm comprising two members, one of which is pivotally connected with a suitable standard and is provided with alined side slots and on its under side with a slot having guides formed contiguous thereto, a second member having telescopic connection with the first member and provided with laterally-extending projections engaging the side slots of the pivoted member and with anges to work on theguides, and a signal carried by the second member.

' 7. A railway-gate, embodying a tubular member having an open end, and an extensible member telescoped within the tubular member, said extensible member being substantially U-shaped in cross-section and having outwardly-directed flanges carried by the outer edges of its opposite sides, and forming guides for coperation with the opposite sides of the tubular member so as to prevent lateral play of the extensible member.

8. In a railway-gate, the combination with a supportpf a vertically-swinging tubular arm pivoted thereto and provided with opposite longitudinal slots and a longitudinal slot formed in that part which is the lower side of the arm when the gate is closed, an extensible member telescoped within the tubular member and provided with opposite lateral projections slidably received in the corresponding opposite slots, the extensible member being of inverted substantially U shapein crosssection, a signal secured between the sides of Vthe extensible member and alined with the bottom slot of the pivotal arm, a flexible conneotion having its upper end secured to the support at a point above the pivot of the swinging member and its opposite end connected to the rear portion of the extensible member, and a guide carried by the swinging member loosely receiving the exible connection and located outwardly beyond the engagement between the flexible connection and the extensible member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER H. LAGI-ILIN.

Witnesses:

JAMES G. MOORE, JESS VB. DAILEY. 

